I live in San Diego North County. My neighbor is going to cut down his 25 year old Nerium Oleander Hedge (Sister Agnes). He said there is a scorched leaf disease that kills all Oleander shrubs. He is doing this on the advice of his landscaper - who is biased, of course, because it means several thousand dollars worth of business for him.
I was just going to plant another 15 Oleanders as a hedge.
Without sensation mongering by the media, just how much of a real threat is this disease? All nurseries are selling Oleanders like crazy. There are many thousand of miles of Oleanders on the median strips of Southern California Freeways.
Would be nice to get an HONEST status report on what is going on.
Plant or not to plant, that is the question.
Thank you
Walter
P.S. If it is a really bad idea to plant oleanders, what could be recommend as a replacement: Blooms all summer, drought resistant, minimum ten feet tall, nice looking, fast growing.